TFP wrote:
Emily wrote:
wrote:
Emily wrote:
snip

Have you had a Lymes test? I don't what part of the country you are in
but you should. Just to rule it out.

I don't think we have it around here, and I haven't seen a tick in
years, but it's something to keep in mind, I guess.

Emily et al:

The tick is called a deer tick, although it is now believed that the
primary vector for the tick itself is song-birds. The tick is also
only the size of a poppy seed when it attaches, and no bigger than a
sesame seed when it is done feeding. Quite small indeed.

If your symptoms persist ... get the test done, especially if you
notice any tingling sensations anywhere, or pain in your face, teeth,
or sinuses. For reasons not known many people with Lyme disease
eventually get mild sinusitis with considerable unremitting facial pain
that cannot be explained by the sinusisitis, or any dental issues that
might be present The best method for Lyme testing is via PCR (genetic
testing) which is done by iGeneX Labs in California.

Lyme (not LYMES) Disease is horrible, and hard to detect, diagnose, and
treat. I had to stop flying (and doing pretty much everything else)
quite suddenly 3 years ago because of it, and am now in treatment.
Because it went undetected by less than compentent doctors for over a
year and a half, my treatment will likely be 18 months long. I've
received antibiotics for 12 months and am now about 60% recovered.

If nothing else shows up in your normal blood testing, get this
particular test done! Don't listen to a doctor that says "there isn't
any Lyme Disease around here" or "you don't have a rash, so you can't
have Lyme Disease". I lived in a large city, never had a rash, and the
extent of my outdoorsiness amounted to the occasional fly-in to a grass
runway, and exposure to a house cat that was allowed to run in and
outside.

The Wikipedia entries are very good on the subject. Look up Lyme
Disease (of course!) and Borrelia burgdorferi (the spirochete that
causes the disease).

All the best ...

TFP

Sorry ... one further note ... the test to request FIRST from iGenX is
called a Western Blot test. If this test is indeterminate, THEN follow
up with the PCR test.

All pilot issues aside, Lyme Disease is a very serious and spreading
condition (some medical authorities esimate that it is the #1 vector
borne disease in North America, in terms of rate of growth in the human
population) that doesn't resolve on its own.

Unlike what other writers here heve indicated, normal blood tests will
probably not show signs of infection, because the nature of the
organism allows it to "hide",if you will, from your immune system, so
you would not show elevated WBC counts, and your sedimentation ("sed")
rate would also probably be within normal limts. This might strengthen
the doctors' opinion about a pyschological cause, but you must then
leave and find a physician who believes what the patient says, and
might be Lyme literate, and is at least willing to sign the requisition
form for the test(s), which you will probably have to get from iGeneX
yourself.

I truly hope your symptoms go away, but consider looking into this if
they do not.

Good luck...

TFP